LM latest: Peter Drake's huge withdrawals

LM founder Peter Drake withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars a week from his business to fund his lifestyle, an ex-LM staffer alleges.

The claims come as the embattled fund manager's draft financial statements for 2012, obtained by the National Business Review, reveal inter-company loans of $A22.9 million directly to Mr Drake and almost $A2 million to related entities, including $A1.14 million to Mr Drake's Gold Coast restaurant, Lauxes.

The ex-employee makes the claims in today's NBR print edition – but he also defends his former boss, saying he thought Mr Drake had good intentions and "just got stuck".

Elsewhere in the paper, economics editor Rob Hosking says the government is left exposed in the Mighty River Power debate because it has not told voters surpluses from state-owned power companies are now going into long overdue, multi-billion dollar transmission upgrades.

In his Economically Speaking column, Neville Bennett runs the rule over problems with Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff's work on government debt reduction and why austerity measures appear to have been overdone.

Business editor Duncan Bridgeman details how New Zealand's last ties to sportswear brand Canterbury have been severed, with the sale of Ross Munro's 49% stake.

Victoria Young reports how ANZ Bank bucked the trend of lower bank advertising last year, spending $35.2 million to try and retain customers after ditching the National Bank brand.

In NBR's executive education special report, Nathan Smith explains why Generation Y is challenging the status quo in the workplace – and why generalisations about lazy and unprofessional work habits are wide of the mark.